A special ceremony, led by Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, honoured the 454-kg grizzly who suffered progressive arthritis and was humanely euthanized.
The Toronto Zoo’s 454-kilogram grizzly bear and longtime resident Samson was bid farewell by zoo staff and Indigenous Knowledge Keepers early Wednesday morning.
“Samson coming in as a rescue bear was an animal who really captured people’s hearts and minds,” DeJong said. “If you look at the outpouring of love on social media, it’s really clear that he’s been one of those Canadian animals who is really synonymous with our site.” A resident of the zoo since September, 1998 Samson was found in Alaska wandering without his mother and undernourished. He arrived at the Toronto Zoo at six months old and was joined by Shintay, a female grizzly bear in 1999.
“Unlike previous years where he’d been a bit stiff and a bit sore for some weeks perhaps, but OK on pain relief, we just weren’t able to get him moving again in a way we would like to,” Masters said.
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